History of Android Research
Origins When the Human Connectome Project reached its maturity, researchers looked for a way to create a very basic version of the human brain, without the aggressive behavior that humans have, to be used for menial tasks and liberate humanity from servile work. After several experiments, the first Android Brain was born. First Generation Androids First-Generation androids had limited capabilities; they were slow to learn, and people considered their existence to be an ethical problem. Second Generation Androids Second-Generation of androids had a computerized implant in their brains, which allowed them to have integrated knowledge and were easier to train. Their computerized knowledge and similitudes to science fiction androids portrayed in shows such as Star Trek allowed them to have public acceptance. However, they had a reduced lifespan, and given that their instinctive capabilities were limited, they were easy to break (read: die) and expensive to replace. Third Generation Androids Third-Generation androids were the first dotated with a Behavioral Implant, which implemented Behavioral Directives. software directives. Originally they were given Asimov's Three Laws for their behavioral limits, but often ended in interest conflicts. Variations of the three laws were implemented to various levels of success. Fourth Generation Androids Fourth-Generation androids incorporated a connectome with limited survival instincts, also known as the four F's: Fleeing, Fighting, Feeding and Reproduction. Agressiveness was kept to a minimum from design, but after the first cases of Berserk androids appeared, a regulatory system needed to be implemented. A hypothesis about Berserk Androids said berserk cases appeared with the reproductive instinct, which androids couldn't fulfill. This hypothesis was discarded but later incorporated into more general hypotheses about Android Behavior. Fifth Generation Androids Fifth-Generation androids were the first androids whose survival instincts could be supressed by behavioral implant. Gen-5 Androids were the first to reach an acceptable level of stability. Berserk Android cases were reduced with a limited success. When the first cases of androids falling in love appeared, began a controversy of ethics regarding androids rights. Given that androids now fell in love and displayed capabilities for compassion and love, it became necessary for a new generation of androids whose emotions were suppressed, either by design or through a hardware limiter. It was during this time that the first biomechanical androids appeared. Until then, all androids were electromechanical. Sixth Generation Androids Sixth-Generation androids were the first androids that came with emotional-suppressors. Their fears, creativity and capability for empathy and love were suppressed successfully, but only to a certain extent. These became the common models of androids used in Earth and Midoria 100 years before today. It was during this time that doctor Edgar Voight formulated Android Behavioral Math, giving birth to the field known as Synthetic Behavioral Science. Voight was the first to coin the term Android Network, referring to a series of androids which consulted each other regarding the optimal way to comply with their directives and their masters' instructions. The first apparition of Rogue Androids (not to be confused with Berserk) confirmed Voight's hypotheses. A few years later, doctor Alexander Kauffman refined and simplified Edgar Voight's mathematical system, allowing a directly-measurable indicator for an android's logical stability. Kauffman also allowed a system of logical/mathematical calculations that could establish a scalar threshold to determine, given an android's directives, whether that particular android became Rogue or not. This was called the Voight-Kauffman Threshold. Seventh Generation Androids Seventh Generation androids were equipped with Voight-Kauffman-based technology, including programmable fuzzy limiters for accepting a determined android's opinion / counsel, based on pre-established variables or labels, including rank, function, etc. These new features launched an explosion of papers about Synthetic Behavior, formulating new theories for Android Self-Organization, partial android rogueness (rogue behavior regarding only a specific set of directives / orders), the design and prediction of collective android AIs (which were later called Hive Minds), among others. It was also discovered that an android belonging to a Hive Mind can bypass inherent passivity and override hidden directives (this is, directives that can be fuzzy-logically deduced from existing directives). Most of the recent research on Synthetic Behavior is dedicated to the relationship between Android Networks and hidden directives. Seventh-Generation androids were also equipped with stability-measuring software, allowing specialized consultants with knowledge of Android Directives programming, to measure the status of an android using specialized software, and take appropriate actions. Thus, the profession of Android Manager was born. Seventh Generation androids became the standard in all the human colonized planets. However, Since Rogue Androids could now be measured, it could be determined whether out of control androids were effectively Berserk. Later analysis confirmed that most Berserk androids appeared because of sustained abuse or a repeated history of conflicting orders, or orders conflicting with the androids' instincts and/or directives. Eight Generation Androids Eigth-Generation androids came as a result on Connectomics research by doctor Lailah de la Fuente. Doctor de la Fuente was able to design an environment called Guf (name based on Jewish mythology), in which a human being or a virtual persona could nurture an android's subconscious, stabilizing it and effectively suppressing the apparition of Berserk Androids, even after receiving conflicting orders. Experimental research done by third parties confirmed that androids didn't go berserk, even after sustained abuse. Dr. de la Fuente was the first to protest this research, and pressed lawmakers to forbid any research involving android torture. Her scientific advances and ethical stance made Doctor de la Fuente earn the Synthetic Behavioral prize, and a multi-billion grant by Babylon Research to create a massively parallelized supercomputer called Mother-1. Doctor de la Fuente even volunteered to upload her consciousness (connectome and memories) to Mother-1, thus becoming the first human being in Midoria to permanently live in a Virtual World. This Virtual Being is called Mother, and is constantly subject to psychiatric evaluation. A further paper written by Dr. de la Fuente proved mathematically that 7th and 8th generation android connectomes were functionally equivalent to humans'. This paper has been kept confidential by all Midorian governments under a Global Security clause. The events taking place in the in-progress novel Nym: A Cybernetic Cinderella happen during the days of Mother-1, ten years after Dr. de la Fuente passed away in an unexplained accident. Post-Flood Androids After the demise of mankind in an ice comet impact known as The Flood, a new generation of Androids was created by Mother: They would thrive in the post-apocalyptic conditions of Midoria. With nanotechnology-based shapeshifting capabilities, optical-RF communication and hivemind self-organization, they could disguise themselves as humans and give birth to real humans so they could repopulate the world. An on-going novel is currently being written about the post-flood Midoria. The details are not yet revealed.